exercises_for_students

Lesson Four The Cult of Business

I. True or false?

1. For both sexes, busyness has become an important insignia of upper-middle-class status.

2. It can be inferred from the text that there is a common misunderstanding that the busier you are, the more successful you will be.

3. The example of the writer’s first-hand experience as a waitress is to demonstrate the great importance of busyness in the success of any career.

4. The telephone monologue is ironical in that a busy woman should spend so much time complaining about her busyness.

5. Busyness doesn’t lead to success, but success can cause busyness.

6. It would be stupid to believe that everything worth doing is worth doing well.

7. It is embarrassing that you are caught doing only one thing at a time, because it is fashionable for people to develop two or more hobbies.

8. “Let’s have lunch” used to mean “I’ve got more important things to do than talk to you right now”.

9. Successful people always manage their time efficiently, and they keep appointment books to remind them of the things to do.

10. High-stress jobs like doing data entry and working as a telephone operator often cause busyness, but they are the necessary preparation for future success.

II. Translate the following sentences into English by using words and expressions listed in the brackets.

1. 这几次爆炸造成了重大伤亡，几百平民被炸死。（toll）

2. 这两个小组的学习需求十分不同。(be distinct from)

3. 有了知名大学的文凭，她迅速跻身中产阶层，地位日见攀升。(upwardly mobile)

4. 成群的牛正在肥美的草地上吃草。(graze on)

5. 我们尽最大的努力劝服富有的国家帮助贫困国家。(cajole into)

6. 他开始用杠铃来健身。(tone up)

7. 从市中心到机场有定时的往返交通服务。(shuttle service)

8. 她神情迷茫地四处徘徊，不知该怎么办。(in a daze)

9. 警察用催泪弹驱散人群。(disperse)

10. 一句老话说得好，好画一幅值千言。(adage)

11. 这家公司的成功主要是由于布赖恩精明的商业头脑。(acumen)

12. 服用新药的病人被要求跟踪监测他们的病情变化。(monitor)

13. 一想到要值夜班，她就不想去当护士。(night shifts)

14. 一个妇女称她曾受到一名男经理的性骚扰。(harrass)

exercises_for_students

III. Translate the following sentences from the text into Chinese:

1. A major report, upon which her professional future depended, was due in three days.

2. I don’t know when the cult of conspicuous busyness began, but it has swept up almost all the upwardly mobile, professional women I know.

3. Nobody, these days, admits to having a hobby, although two or more careers – say, neurosurgery and an art dealership – is not uncommon.

4. Any woman who doesn’t want to wind up a case study in the feminization of poverty has to be successful at something more demanding than fingernail maintenance or come-hither looks.

5. They saw through that adage, repeated to me so often in childhood, that anything worth doing is worth doing well.

6. If the truly successful manage never to be busy, it is also true that many of the busiest people will never be successful.

7. Anyone who has invented a better mousetrap can expect to be harassed by strangers demanding that you read their unpublished manuscripts.

8. It would be sad to have come so far – or at least to have run so hard – only to lose each other.